Campus

CUE Farm Manager Earns River Friendly Farmer Award

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PUBLISHED ON Jul 31 2017

Tim Dorsey, Manager of the CUE Farm at Butler, has won the 2017 River Friendly Farmer Award, a statewide initiative that recognizes farmers who do an outstanding job of protecting rivers, lakes, and streams through their everyday conservation management practices.

The award is given by the Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District. Dorsey will be recognized by Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch and leaders of the Indiana Conservation Partnership at this year’s Indiana State Fair.

“Tim works tirelessly each year to refine and improve conservation practices on the CUE Farm, and it shows in the quality of produce we are able to offer to our customers,” said Julia Angstmann, Director of Butler’s Center for Urban Ecology. “When an ecosystem is in balance, there is no need for artificial fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that are so harmful to our water resources. The farm’s native and cultivated organisms—pollinators, predatory insects, and carefully selected and placed plants—create checks and balances in the system that benefit all life on the farm."

Nestled between the White River and the Central Canal, the Butler Center for Urban Ecology Farm produces mixed vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers, and mushrooms. In recognizing Dorsey, the Soil & Water Conservation District noted that his goals are soil regeneration and holistic farm management, and that he uses a variety of techniques for conserve water and improve soil.

Under his watch, water infiltration has improved visibly, which has made denser plantings possible. That not only improves revenue opportunities but combats weeds.

The CUE Farm has also recently begun to see the presence of reptile life on the farm, which could be attributed to the layered perennial cover available as habitat. Butler University also maintains a managed prairie and riparian buffer adjacent to the farm.

The Total Solar Eclipse is Coming (South of Us)

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PUBLISHED ON Jul 24 2017

The first total solar eclipse over the continental United States in 38 years will be visible south of Indianapolis in Illinois and Kentucky on August 21, but Indianapolis residents will still get to see a 91 percent partial eclipse, Associate Director of Butler University’s Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium Rick Brown says.

And the best place to see the eclipse locally? Probably your own back yard.

“You don’t need to go anywhere to see it except an open area where the sun would normally be visible,” Brown said. “But you’ll need to wear solar eclipse glasses during this time if you want to look at the sun. They have special filters that prevent your eyes from having permanent damage.”

The partial eclipse—which occurs when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth—will be visible in Indianapolis beginning at 12:57 PM and will end at 3:48 PM, reaching its maximum blockage at 2:24 PM when the moon will block approximately 91 percent of the sun.

The total solar eclipse begins in Oregon and moves eastward along an arching path that includes Kansas City, St. Louis, Nashville, and Charleston, South Carolina.

During a total solar eclipse, the corona of the sun—the gas that surrounds the sun—is visible, Brown said. Normally, it can’t be seen because the sunlight is too bright.

“Sometimes during a total solar eclipse, if you’re lucky, you get to see some stars in the background during the daytime,” Brown said. “And sometimes you can see solar flares and prominence, which are explosions on the surface of the sun.”

Brown said that the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium will be closed on August 21. Staff members will be heading south to get the best possible view of the total eclipse.

“There’s really no benefit to being at an observatory during our partial solar eclipse,” he said. “The sun takes up about half a degree in the sky, which is less than the width of your finger at an arm’s length. So if you looked at that through a telescope, first of all you’d be magnifying the sun’s light, which would make it even more dangerous, and secondly we would be enlarging it out of our telescope, so you’d only be able to see a small portion of it.”

Special glasses to view the eclipse are for sale for $2 each at the Holcomb Observatory during weekend hours, which begin at 8:15 PM. For more information, visit https://www.butler.edu/holcomb-observatory.

Butler Again Featured in Fiske Guide to Colleges

Butler University is again among the roughly 300 schools listed in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, a reference book for prospective students looking for “the best and most interesting schools.”

The 2018 edition, which is now available, notes that “the University’s most popular programs are also among its best and include Marketing, Biological Science, Elementary Education, and pre-professional tracks in Pharmacy and Physician Assistant studies.”

“Other solid offerings include Dance, Theater, International Business, and English, especially the creative writing track. The Risk Management and Insurance major focuses on teaching students how to mitigate and manage risks through a combination of insurance and non-insurance techniques; graduates of the program can work in the insurance and financial services industries.”

The book recognizes the Honors program (“designed to foster a diverse and challenging intellectual climate”), undergraduate research, study abroad, “and a strong undergraduate liberal arts experience.”

“Butler University offers quality education, friendly and approachable professors, plenty of opportunities for involvement, and an overall friendly atmosphere,” one student is quoted as saying.

And, of course, the Butler’s entry in Fiske touches on basketball. “Those who attend this small Midwestern University know that Bulldogs basketball is representative of the Butler way of life, which emphasizes teamwork, tenacity, and solid fundamentals,” the book says. As for Hinkle Fieldhouse, it “has reigned as one of the nation’s great sports arenas for more than eight decades.”

The book notes the park-like setting of the Butler campus—“centuries-old trees, open landscaped malls, curving sidewalks, fountains, a nature preserve, a prairie, a historical canal, a formal botanical garden, an observatory, and jogging paths”—as well as the cultural advantages available in Indianapolis.

“Butler truly becomes a community for our students,” says a sophomore. “The students and faculty all work to make Butler life an enjoyable experience for all.”

Placement Rate Rises to 97 Percent for 2016 Graduates

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PUBLISHED ON Jul 10 2017

A survey of 2016 Butler graduates has found that six months after graduation, 97 percent were successfully employed, enrolled in or preparing for graduate school, or participating in a gap-year experience—a 2 percentage-point increase compared with the previous class.

The average starting salary for all graduates was $50,000.

“We should definitely be proud of this,” said Courtney Rousseau ’03 MS, a Career Advisor in Butler’s Office of Internship and Career Services (ICS), who led the survey. “It shows the return on investment from a Butler education. Our students are walking away with the skills needed to take that next step.”

The “First Destination Survey” of the 999 graduates found that College of Education graduates had a 100 placement rate—as it has every year for more than a decade.

The Lacy School of Business, which is ranked by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as No. 1 in the nation for internships, had a 99 percent placement rate. All students in the Lacy School interview for and complete two internships for credit, with guidance from a career mentor. The School boasts a network of over 2,000 internship employers, and many internships turn into post-graduate employment.

The placement rate for the Jordan College of the Arts was 98 percent, followed by the College of Communication at 97 percent, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at 92 percent. The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS) had an overall 97 percent placement rate; 95 percent in Pharmacy.

Gary Beaulieu, Director of Butler’s Office of Internship and Career Services (ICS), said his office takes great pride in Butler’s placement rate. ICS assists graduates with their career development at no cost for life—a service that is not guaranteed at many institutions.

“This is a fantastic success for ICS to celebrate,” he said. “This is why we do the work we do.”

Beaulieu said Butler students are well prepared for careers thanks to what they learn in the classroom and also because 75 percent of Butler students complete one or more internships for academic credit.

The knowledge collected from both the survey and reports from across campus identifies graduates’ first post-graduate experience. Overall, ICS captured data from 766 people, meaning 76 percent of 2016 graduates.

Rousseau said the study results are a combination of self-reported data—graduates responding to a survey—and knowledge-based information where the University found the graduates through social media and other measures, including reports from the colleges and departments.

Major employers of Butler’s newly minted graduates include Eli Lilly and Company, Interactive Intelligence, IU Health, Allstate, Community Health Network, and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. Nearly 25 percent of graduates went on to graduate school, with many in medical school or dental school.

Twenty Years After First PA Class Graduates, the Program's Co-Founder Retires

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PUBLISHED ON Jun 30 2017

During the summer in between her junior and senior years at Indiana University, Laurie Pylitt, discovered her future career in the most unlikely place—Seventeen magazine.

It was the 1970s, at the height of many women’s rights movements. Pylitt, who was working in a physical therapy department, remembers finding the article, “15 Health Careers for Women,” and thinking how chauvinistic it sounded for the time. After reading it though, she learned about the Physician Assistant (PA) career field for the first time and thought that might be the right choice for her.

In 1976, Pylitt graduated from IU with a Physician Assistant certificate. She balanced full-time employment as a surgical PA in Chicago—a position she held for 15 years—while earning a Master of Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois.

In 1991, Pylitt moved back to her home state of Indiana when she married her husband, Bernard, whom most refer to as “Buddy,” and took a position at Methodist Hospital, now named Indiana University Health Methodist, as the Manager of Quality Assurance.

Her lifelong dream was to start a PA program, and when she was approached to do that at Butler, she said, “It was like a dream come true.”

“Butler and IU Health Methodist combined gave me the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do since I was a student,” Pylitt added.

Pylitt, in collaboration with Professor Emeritus Bruce Clayton, co-authored the proposal that started the Butler PA Program, and she served as its founding Program Director from 1994–1998.

“When I came to Butler to start the PA program, there hadn’t been a PA program in Indiana for 20 years,” Pylitt said. One of her goals “was to reintroduce the PA profession to the state.”

It has been 20 years since the first class graduated from Butler, and more than 750 PAs have finished since then. Pylitt takes pride in the fact that several current PA faculty are graduates of the program she was instrumental in starting.

One such student is Assistant Professor Matt Stinson, who is a graduate of the first PA class. He remembers there being much uncertainty during the creation of the program because it wasn’t accredited. And with no accreditation, the nine students in the program would be unable to start their career.

“Laurie was a trailblazer in starting the new PA program, and she worked hard,” Stinson said. “She was able to get the program accredited, I graduated, became a PA for 20 years, and was able to come back here to teach. I’m very appreciative of all the hard work Laurie put into the program.”

*

After a brief hiatus from Butler to work with the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Family Medicine Residency, Pylitt returned to Butler in 2007. She has served in multiple teaching roles: as part of the team teaching clinical assessment for Pharmacy students; as the Course Director for Pharmacy Therapeutics and Case Studies; and as the Co-Course Director for Therapeutics for PAs.

In 2010, she became the COPHS Director of Assessment. The next year, she was instrumental in the re-accreditation process for the Pharmacy program.

Associate Dean for the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Bonnie Brown said Pylitt has been a key player in many areas of the college. Perhaps her largest impact has been with assessment.

“She was all about assessments,” Brown said. “She was always willing to talk to students about assessments, making sure they understood the importance of course instructor evaluations and how that feeds into a system of how we make improvements for the next year. If a student group sees that their comments have been useful to change something for the better for the future, it does make them more aware of how they can provide feedback for change.”

Pylitt described her impact this way: The word “assessment” is no longer a negative word among faculty, staff, and students. Brown agreed.

*

Moving forward, Pylitt is unsure what retirement will bring. She said that since her mid-20s her career has been her identity, and it will be a large adjustment come retirement.

Despite the change, she’s looking forward to traveling more, cooking, listening to audiobooks—which she recently discovered and really enjoys—and working in her 40-foot-by-40-foot garden.

“I’ll continue to learn,” she said. “I like learning new things, or new ways to do old things.”

Butler Summer Intensive Students to Perform at the Schrott

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PUBLISHED ON Jun 24 2017

Forty-nine dancers from around the country have come to Butler University to participate in the second annual Summer Intensive, a three-week program designed to immerse 13- to 18-year-olds in the culture of dance.

On July 29 at 11:00 AM in Butler’s Schrott Center for the Arts, the public will be able to see what these dancers can do when they perform the ballet Don Quixote as well as jazz and modern works choreographed by the faculty members working on the Summer Intensive program.

Admission to the performance is free.

Butler Dance Professor Marek Cholewa, who oversees the summer program as Artistic Director, said the purpose of the intensive is to help students grow and develop as they prepare for the next stages in their dance education.

The dancers participate in classes from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Saturday. There is a strong focus on ballet, which is reflected in the ballet, pointe, partnering, and repertory classes. The students also take daily jazz, modern, and character classes, and all ballet, pointe, modern, character, and partnering classes include live accompanists.

There is even a physical therapist on site twice a week for the dancers to visit if needed.

This year, there are 49 female dancers, ages 12-17, participating in the intensive. Of those, 41 are out of state—coming from as far as California, Florida, and Connecticut. There are 43 who stay in Butler’s Residential College dorm and six who commute to campus every day.

“Students live here to immerse themselves in the culture,” Cholewa said. “We can talk about how we do things, but the best way for them to learn is when we work together.”

Four current Butler male dance majors, Nick Bentz, Francis Mihm, Graeham Toomey, and Nathaniel Tyson, also participate in the program so that the women have the opportunity to take partnering classes.

The faculty includes Butler Dance faculty members Cholewa, Derek Reid, and Susan McGuire, as well as adjunct professors Rosanna Ruffo, Monica Munoz, and Nick Owens.

The summer intensive is organized by the Butler Community Arts School and staff: Karen Thickstun, Director; Courtney Shelburne, Administrative Assistant; and Meredith Hunter-Mason, intern and current Dance major.

Forty-nine dancers from around the country have come to Butler University to participate in the second annual Summer Intensive, a three-week program designed to immerse 13- to 18-year-olds in the culture of dance.

Forty-nine dancers from around the country have come to Butler University to participate in the second annual Summer Intensive, a three-week program designed to immerse 13- to 18-year-olds in the culture of dance.

Butler, CTS Announce Campus-Sharing Partnership

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PUBLISHED ON Jun 12 2017

Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary on June 12 announced a campus-sharing partnership. President James M. Danko sent this email explaining the deal:

Since 2015-2016, Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) have been exploring ways to expand and enhance educational experiences at our schools through academic partnerships, operational services, and shared space. After much discussion and community input, we are pleased to inform you that the Board of Trustees for both schools have drafted a campus-sharing strategy and partnership under which Butler would purchase a significant portion of the CTS campus.

Under the potential agreement, Butler would purchase all but a parcel of land on the far west side of the CTS property. CTS would continue to reside on campus—in a portion of the main building, counseling center, and apartments—through a special long-term lease.

This agreement is a creative collaboration that benefits both schools. It supports the growth and momentum of Butler 2020, providing our University with new physical space, including the CTS apartments, for potential development as we seek to further enhance the Butler academic experience. Meanwhile, CTS finds itself with an abundance of space and believes strongly in the responsible stewardship of its resources, including land and buildings. This partnership helps advance the vision of both institutions while keeping them independent.

I am pleased to announce that Butler’s College of Education would move to CTS beginning with the 2018–2019 academic year, providing the COE community with a space that will better fit its learning objectives. Furthermore, as part of this potential agreement, we would identify and pursue other areas of collaboration and shared operational services, such as our bookstore and buildings and grounds maintenance.

Over the next three months, Butler and CTS leadership will continue to work together to finalize the remaining details, with plans for final approval of the arrangement by the Boards of Trustees of both schools in early September. In the meantime, as always, I welcome your questions and thoughts.

President Danko's Message Regarding Coach Holtmann's Departure

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PUBLISHED ON Jun 09 2017

Dear Butler University Community Members,

Chris Holtmann, head coach of the Butler University men’s basketball team, informed Vice President and Director of Athletics Barry Collier and me late Thursday that he had accepted a position at The Ohio State University. Chris has been a tremendous ambassador for Butler over the past several years. Our team has enjoyed great success on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.

Please join me in thanking Chris for his leadership and wishing him, Lori, and Nora continued success as they begin this new endeavor.

While this news will disappoint many within our community, we have great days ahead of us—in academics, athletics, and beyond.

Our men’s basketball program has enjoyed success at the highest levels for several decades, and I am confident that it will continue to do so. Butler University is committed to supporting a program that will continue to be among the best in the BIG EAST and on a national level.

I have great confidence in Barry Collier to identify the next dynamic leader of our program. Butler will hire someone who embodies The Butler Way—someone who will spearhead success on the court, while also leading a program that makes our University proud.

Thank you for your continued support of Butler University. We look forward to introducing you to Butler’s next basketball coach soon.

Butler Wins Ball Venture Competition Award

Butler University has received a $20,000 Ball Venture Fund Competition award to research software and hardware that can help make math courses accessible online for students with visual impairments.

The $20,000 award will fund research, development, testing, and evaluation of the ability of various software applications to convert mathematical expressions (equations, graphs, charts and diagrams) into accessible, readable expressions for students with visual impairments enrolled in online courses.

The project will take place from fall 2017 to summer 2018. Once completed, Butler students and staff will convert existing course content with inaccessible mathematical expressions to accessible ones for students with disabilities and share their work with other colleges that offer online, math-focused courses.

“With almost 11 percent of undergraduates and about 8 percent of master’s and 7 percent of doctoral students identified with some type of disability, it is imperative Butler University systematically and systemically address accessibility for online learning in order to comply with ethical principles, best practices, and laws,” Erin C. Vincent, Director of Academic Program Development and Innovation, and Brad D. Berggoetz, ADA Technology Compliance Analyst, wrote in their proposal.

The Ball Venture Fund Competition, sponsored by the Ball Brothers Foundation of Muncie (IN), is in its 19th year, providing Independent Colleges of Indiana schools with seed funds for innovative start-up projects. This year, ICI received 30 submissions from 20 member institutions.

2016-2017 Academic Year in Review

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PUBLISHED ON May 08 2017

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

In between, the University was again named Most Innovative School in the Midwest as well as one of the healthiest in the country. Butler opened the new Fairview House housing facility, earned LEED Gold certification for the Hinkle Fieldhouse renovations, added a new fraternity, and much more.

We also lost several cherished members of the Butler community, including basketball star Joel Cornette ‘04, longtime Professor of Voice André Aerne, and Patricia Cochran, the great-great-granddaughter of Butler University founder Ovid Butler.

Here’s a look back:

AUGUST

The University welcomed a record first-year class of 1,272 students on move-in day. The class included 46 Valedictorians and 11 Salutatorians, 2 National Merit Finalists, 21 Lilly Scholars, and 45 21st Century Scholars.

A Gallup-Purdue Index study found that Butler alumni are thriving personally and professionally. Butler outperformed its peers across most items in graduates’ assessment of their student experience including faculty support and experiential learning, affinity for their alma mater, and overall well-being.

Investigating the Rubik’s cube, comparing contracts for restricted free agents in the NBA, and constructing Cantor polynomials were just some of the research projects Butler students undertook at Mathematics Research Camp, an eight-day intensive experience designed to introduce students to mathematical research.

Joel Cornette, a key member of Butler’s first Sweet 16 team, died. He was 35. A celebration of his life was held at Hinkle Fieldhouse on August 22. The University established the Joel Cornette Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarship support for future Butler Bulldogs. Contributions in honor may be made online.

Butler was awarded a $600,000 Indiana State Department of Health grant for a two-year project to determine whether dementia patients’ lives can be improved through the use of personal musical playlists. In the project, called Music First, faculty and students from across Butler—in Psychology, Music, Pharmacy, Communication Disorders, and other areas—studied 100 residents in the American Village retirement home throughout the 2016–2017 academic year.

Professor Emeritus of Music James Briscoe, Professor of Education Suneeta Kercood, and Professor of Communication Ann Savage were honored with Butler University’s 2016 Distinguished Faculty Awards.

President James Danko was reappointed as the BIG EAST conference’s representative on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum.

Speaking as part of Academic Day, author Kelsey Timmerman told first-year students that they should do volunteer work, study abroad, and incorporate one thing a day into their lives that provides someone else with genuine opportunity.

Bekah Pollard ’16, an Art + Design major, was awarded a 2016 Arts Council of Indianapolis Arts Journalism Fellowship to produce stories for The Indianapolis Star.

Over 1,200 volunteers participated in Bulldogs Into the Streets, Butler’s annual service program.

The old pool section of Hinkle Fieldhouse, which has been converted into a weight room, training center, and administration offices, received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The removal of the pool was part of the $34 million renovation of Hinkle Fieldhouse, which took place in 2013–2014.

Associate Professor of Theatre Rob Koharchik and Butler Theatre alumnus Jeffery Martin ’93 each received one of the “surprise” $10,000 awards given by The Indianapolis Foundation to Indianapolis-based organizations and individuals. Koharchik and Martin were recognized under the category “Indy Professional Theatre MVPs,” creative professionals whose work in theater contributes to the vibrancy of the cultural community and the strength of our city.

Fairview House, the new $43 million, 633-bed residence hall located along Sunset Avenue, officially opened. The residence hall features three- and four-bedroom pods with two students to a room. Each pair of students shares a bathroom, and each has his or her own sink and large closet.

SEPTEMBER

Butler participated in a weeklong celebration of Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut with Butler Theatre’s staged reading of Vonnegut’s play Happy Birthday, Wanda June and Indy Opera’s world premiere of the opera version of that play, with music written by Butler Music Professor Richard Auldon Clark.

The Center for Urban Ecology (CUE) was awarded a three-year, nearly $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the CUE Farm on campus as a hub for undergraduate education and research. The money supports Butler faculty in the development and implementation of four urban agriculture research modules in biology, chemistry, ecology, and environmental science courses and to study the impact of those modules on student learning.

Assistant Professor of Biology Lindsay Lewellyn was awarded a $410,656 National Institutes of Health grant to study egg development in fruit flies, which ultimately could lead to breakthroughs in the area of human infertility. The money is being used to pay for students to work in the lab over the summer, presenting findings at research conferences, hiring a full-time research technician during the academic year, and supplies.

Kaveh Akbar MFA ’15 was one of five recipients of the 2016 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships, a $25,800 prize intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry. The fellowships are available to all U.S. poets 21 to 31 years old.

Delorean J. Menifee was named Director of Admission.

Butler University and the Center for Urban Ecology were inducted into the Green Lights Hall of Fame. The Green Light Awards—a series of climate solutions compiled by Sustainable Indiana 2016 as part of the Bicentennial—are distributed to organizations and individuals who are at the forefront of promoting sustainability across the state of Indiana.

For the second consecutive year, Butler University was ranked as the Most Innovative School among Midwestern Regional Universities, according to the 2017 edition of U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges. Butler was also recognized in the categories of Best Undergraduate Teaching and the Best Colleges for Veterans, and appeared on the national shortlist of excellence for First-Year Experience, Internships, Undergraduate Research, and Study Abroad.

Butler was named one of the 26 healthiest colleges in the country by Greatist.com, a website devoted to healthy living.

CommonLit Inc., a company run by Michelle (Skinner) Brown ’09, received a federal Department of Education grant to help fund and expand the organization. CommonLit Inc., a completely free, online compilation of literary and teaching resources that was created to try to close the “secondary literacy gap,” will receive $3.9 million over two years.​

Associate Professor of Education Katie Brooks was awarded a $2 million U.S. Department of Education grant to train 80 current or potential teachers to become licensed to teach English Language Learning students. The five-year grant is intended to help alleviate the chronic shortage of English as a New Language (ENL) teachers. The grant will pay for 20 college graduates who have a bachelor’s degree in a licensable area such as biology, math, social studies, world languages, or English to get both a teaching license and an ENL license.

The Board of Trustees elected Attorney Robert T. Wildman and Life Sciences executive Lynne Zydowsky ’81 to special one-year terms on the Board. Both will be eligible for full three-year terms in June 2017. Wildman is a member of the Business Services Group, the Venture Capital and Private Equity Group, and the Real Estate Group of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP. Zydowsky, President of Zydowsky Consultants, is an experienced executive in the Life Sciences industry who has been involved in the launching and building of many successful companies.

Longtime Professor of Voice André Aerne died on Sunday, October 16, in Petoskey, Michigan. He was 84. Aerne taught at Butler from 1966–1998 and also was often featured as a soloist in the Romantic Festival programs.

Butler’s first Mock Mediation team did well at the Brenau Invitational Mediation Tournament in Gainesville, Georgia. Russ Hunter ’17 and Anthony Murdock ’17 both took home “Top Mediator.” Hunter also was awarded “Top Advocate/Client,” as was his teammate Nick Fox ’18.

Forty-nine members of FFA (Future Farmers of America), who came from as far away as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona, and Washington state to attend the annual FFA convention in Indianapolis, took a tour of the CUE Farm at Butler to see how the University is approaching sustainable, environmentally responsible urban farming.

The Center for Urban Ecology Farm became the new home of the first fully automated mobile greenhouse, an 8-foot-wide by 32-foot-long structure designed and built by Ball State University architecture students to enable the CUE Farm to start plants earlier in the season. The $50,000 project was built with a grant from the Butler Innovation Fund

Erin Vincent was hired as Director of Academic Program Development and Innovation, a new position designed to help faculty, staff, and administrators move new academic programs from an idea to program launch.

NOVEMBER

Brandie Oliver, Assistant Professor of School Counseling in the College of Education, was named Indiana School Counselor Association Counselor Educator of the Year.

The Center for Citizenship and Community celebrated its 20th anniversary of connecting Butler students and the University with the community.

A team of five Butler University students won the Purdue University Parrish Library Case Competition, an annual contest that challenges students to use their business research skills to solve a problem for a company. Sammie Chalmers, Taylor Gillenwater, Nicole Henrich, Karly Krebs, and Allison Wolff beat more than 20 teams from Indiana University and Purdue University.

Eight Lacy School of Business students took the annual Wall Street Trek trip to get a good look at Wall Street—JPMorgan Chase, the Stock Exchange, Blue Mountain Capital—and Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Junior Jacob Reeves won the 2016–2017 Hendricks Fellowship for his project studying how wildlife use Butler University’s campus as their home. The Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement (CHASE) awards the scholarship to a student who completes a scientific research project in the area of conservation or Indiana ecosystems.

Jacklyn Gries, a second-year Pharmacy major from Evansville, Indiana, was selected as Butler’s 2016 winner of the Independent Colleges of Indiana’s Realizing the Dream scholarship. This scholarship goes to students who are first in their families to go to college, have been selected by their colleges for outstanding achievement in their first year, and are successfully advancing towards completing their bachelor’s degrees.

Butler became the first Indiana school to be invited to present at a Teach to Lead Preparation Summit held in Washington, DC, by the federal Department of Education.

DECEMBER

Patricia Cochran, the great-great-granddaughter of Butler University founder Ovid Butler and great-niece of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Booth Tarkington, died on December 5. She was 97.

Sigma Gamma Rho, the sorority founded at Butler University on November 12, 1922, gave Butler a gift to establish the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. 7 Founders Endowed Scholarship to honor the seven education majors and public school teachers who started the organization. The scholarship will be awarded annually beginning in the fall to a student enrolled in the College of Education.

The curtain rose on the new Theatre Department Scene Shop, which moved from cramped quarters in the basement of the Holcomb Building to much larger, well-ventilated space in the west side of the Sunset Avenue Parking Garage. Half the space will be used to build scenery for Theatre productions; the other half will be used for costume storage for the Theatre and Dance departments.

Victoria Kreyden ’17, a Biology/Spanish double-major from Carmel, Indiana, won first place in the undergraduate poster session at the 2016 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) meeting in San Francisco, California, for her poster presentation Investigation of the neuronal functions of the SUMO conjugating enzyme UBC-9 at the C. elegans neuromuscular junction. Kreyden’s presentation was judged best of more than 100 by undergraduates from around the country and abroad.

Retired Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard spoke at 2016 Winter Commencement, telling the 138 graduates that they should clutch their diploma with a sense of optimism because they are in America and they are educated. “The value of an education earned in 2016 at universities like Butler is more tangible than ever,” he said. “Your decision and your family’s decision to persevere in education is the best possible launching pad for a successful career and a successful life.”

Veteran police officer John Conley succeeded Ben Hunter as Butler University’s Chief of Public Safety. Conley joined the Butler University Police Department in 2014, after working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) for 40 years.

Associate Professor Kelli Esteves, who has taught in the College of Education since 2010, was named the Richard W. Guyer Chair in Education.

JANUARY

Responding to a note on Facebook, Tracy Tyndall Pabst ’98 donated a kidney to Laura Coker Blandford ’97. The two were Delta Gamma sorority sisters but not close friends.

A three-judge panel from the Indiana Court of Appeals heard a case on the Butler campus as part of its Appeals on Wheels program that brings the court to different locations to show the public what it does.

Thirteen Indiana public school superintendents from all over the state began to participate in the first EPIC (Educators Preparing Inspired Change), a joint venture of Butler University and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents to help great educators transform the business and constituent-services aspects of their work.

Singer Ben Davis, who spent a couple of years as a Butler student, returned to the Clowes Memorial Hall stage for the first time in 20 years, this time as Captain Georg von Trapp in the national touring company of The Sound of Music.

Jason Davidson ’01, an instructor in the Lacy School of Business, wrote a book on Visual Basic for Applications, the popular programming language that is used to create and customize Microsoft Office programs. VBA for Microsoft Office 2016, published by Pearson, is a 216-page, step-by-step guide that’s geared toward students.

Professor of Music David Murray was awarded the International Society of Bassists’s 2017 Special Recognition Award for Solo Performance, which goes to a person “who has contributed special skills, knowledge, projects, and other such positive works in the furthering of ISB ideals.” The award is given every two years by the organization, which represents nearly 3,000 members in more than 40 countries.

Butler students to make the trip to New York to be part of National Retail Federation’s Big Show, the annual showcase for retail merchants that also lets students see the enormous variety of career options available to them in retail.

Butler University placed 808 students on the Dean’s List for the fall 2016 semester.

A NASA representative brought moon rocks to College of Education Professor Catherine Pangan’s Science and Social Studies Methods class.

Students and supporters participated in the Polar Plunge, raising over $53,000 for Special Olympics Indiana.

The second annual Day of Giving shattered expectations, with faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, and friends making 887 gifts totaling more than $137,000. In addition, the University was able to “unlock” more than $103,000 in challenge funding.

Isaac Warshawsky ’20 was selected as the second recipient of the Bruce and Lucy Gerstein Holocaust Education Travel Fund, which enabled him to visit Poland over spring break.

MARCH

Beta Theta Pi was selected as the University’s new fraternity, with colonization of the Butler chapter to begin in fall 2017. A location for a future chapter house will be determined, and the University will assist in selecting the site.

Butler’s men’s basketball team advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2011 with a 74-65 win over Middle Tennessee State.

Juniors Alex Tison, Claire Cox, and Kaylynn Cline were flown to Chicago to appear on an ESPN quiz show called Bracket Genius.

Associate Professor of Music Education Daniel Bolin was selected as the 2017 inductee to the Gamma Chapter, Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame. Phi Beta Mu is the highest honorary fraternity for international band directors.

Twelve 5-foot-by-5-foot brain sculptures, each linked to a different theme in neuroscience, went on display on campus for six weeks as part of One Butler: The Brain Project. The sculptures, commissioned by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, were displayed throughout campus.

The Center for Urban Ecology Farm began to pursue mushroom cultivation, thanks to an Indy Urban Mushrooms grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

Butler University sophomore Lauren Ciulla struck gold, earning the Congressional Award Gold Medal, the U.S. Congress’s award for young Americans who set and achieve goals in four program areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration.

APRIL

The estate of Winstan R. “Bud” Sellick ’47 and his wife, Jacqueline (Blomberg) ’44, has given $9.4 million to the University. The gift will be shared among Butler Athletics, the Lacy School of Business, and general University support.

Twenty-six Butler University students were elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the honor society that recognizes the best and brightest liberal arts and sciences undergraduates from 286 top schools across the nation.

Education professors Susan Adams and Brooke Kandel-Cisco were part of a team recognized with a B.E.S.T. Award from WFYI (Channel 20) for its “exemplary work ethic and performance” and its efforts to develop a curriculum guide for the station’s documentary Attucks: The School That Opened A City.

Four Butler students were named Top Four Paper Winners at the University’s 2017 Undergraduate Research Conference. Kelsey McDougall, John Anderton, Taylor Pearson, and Viki Tomanov’s projects were judged to be the best among the 21 students from five different universities who submitted their completed papers for competitive review.

Theatre Professor Owen Schaub announced his retirement after 37 years at the University. “Having been at Butler has been a very warm, rewarding, and humane experience,” he said. Other professors who retired this year after long tenures at Butler include Katarina Dulckeit, Richard McGowan, Jeanne Van Tyle, Laurie Pylitt, and Stanley DeRusha.

Frank E. Ross III, a national leader in student affairs with 22 years of experience and degrees from both Ball State and Indiana universities, was named Vice President for Student Affairs. He will take over the position in June.

Madison Sauerteig, a junior from Arcadia, Indiana, who has done extensive volunteer work with Riley Hospital for Children, received the 2017 John Weidner Endowed Scholarship for Altruism.

Junior Caitlyn Foye, a Biology major from Newburgh, Indiana, was named a 2017–2018 Goldwater Scholar, the most prestigious undergraduate award given in the sciences.

MAY

A $5 million financial contribution from Old National Bank will be used to create the Old National Bank Center for Closely Held Business, which will provide privately owned businesses throughout Indiana with training, education, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help them succeed.

The Lacy School of Business’ student-run insurance company began operations after the Bermuda Monetary Authority granted licensing approval for the business. The company was created to give students hands-on experience and prepare them for an industry that is anticipated to need tens of thousands of new employees over the next seven years.

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni signed a steel beam that will be part of the construction of the new 647-bed housing unit that will replace Schwitzer Hall. The first occupants of the new housing will move in in August 2018.

John Lechleiter, retired CEO of Eli Lilly and Co., told the spring 2017 graduates that they should set their sights high and strive for excellence, treat others the way they would like to be treated, and think and act independently. Butler graduates 955 students on May 6, 2017.

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

2016-2017: The Academic Year in Review

BY

PUBLISHED ON May 08 2017

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

In between, the University was again named Most Innovative School in the Midwest as well as one of the healthiest in the country. Butler opened the new Fairview House housing facility, earned LEED Gold certification for the Hinkle Fieldhouse renovations, added a new fraternity, and much more.

We also lost several cherished members of the Butler community, including basketball star Joel Cornette ‘04, longtime Professor of Voice André Aerne, and Patricia Cochran, the great-great-granddaughter of Butler University founder Ovid Butler.

Here’s a look back:

AUGUST

-The University welcomed a record first-year class of 1,272 students on move-in day. The class included 46 Valedictorians and 11 Salutatorians, 2 National Merit Finalists, 21 Lilly Scholars, and 45 21st Century Scholars.

-A Gallup-Purdue Index study found that Butler alumni are thriving personally and professionally. Butler outperformed its peers across most items in graduates’ assessment of their student experience including faculty support and experiential learning, affinity for their alma mater, and overall well-being.

-Investigating the Rubik’s cube, comparing contracts for restricted free agents in the NBA, and constructing Cantor polynomials were just some of the research projects Butler students undertook at Mathematics Research Camp, an eight-day intensive experience designed to introduce students to mathematical research.

-Joel Cornette, a key member of Butler's first Sweet 16 team, died. He was 35. A celebration of his life was held at Hinkle Fieldhouse on August 22. The University established the Joel Cornette Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarship support for future Butler Bulldogs. Contributions in honor may be made online.

-Butler was awarded a $600,000 Indiana State Department of Health grant for a two-year project to determine whether dementia patients’ lives can be improved through the use of personal musical playlists. In the project, called Music First, faculty and students from across Butler—in Psychology, Music, Pharmacy, Communication Disorders, and other areas—studied 100 residents in the American Village retirement home throughout the 2016–2017 academic year.

-Professor Emeritus of Music James Briscoe, Professor of Education Suneeta Kercood, and Professor of Communication Ann Savage were honored with Butler University’s 2016 Distinguished Faculty Awards.

-President James Danko was reappointed as the BIG EAST conference’s representative on the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum.

-Speaking as part of Academic Day, author Kelsey Timmerman told first-year students that they should do volunteer work, study abroad, and incorporate one thing a day into their lives that provides someone else with genuine opportunity.

-Bekah Pollard ’16, an Art + Design major, was awarded a 2016 Arts Council of Indianapolis Arts Journalism Fellowship to produce stories for The Indianapolis Star.

-Over 1,200 volunteers participated in Bulldogs Into the Streets, Butler’s annual service program.

-The old pool section of Hinkle Fieldhouse, which has been converted into a weight room, training center, and administration offices, received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The removal of the pool was part of the $34 million renovation of Hinkle Fieldhouse, which took place in 2013–2014.

-Associate Professor of Theatre Rob Koharchik and Butler Theatre alumnus Jeffery Martin ’93 each received one of the "surprise" $10,000 awards given by The Indianapolis Foundation to Indianapolis-based organizations and individuals. Koharchik and Martin were recognized under the category “Indy Professional Theatre MVPs,” creative professionals whose work in theater contributes to the vibrancy of the cultural community and the strength of our city.

-Fairview House, the new $43 million, 633-bed residence hall located along Sunset Avenue, officially opened. The residence hall features three- and four-bedroom pods with two students to a room. Each pair of students shares a bathroom, and each has his or her own sink and large closet.

SEPTEMBER

-Butler participated in a weeklong celebration of Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut with Butler Theatre’s staged reading of Vonnegut’s play Happy Birthday, Wanda June and Indy Opera’s world premiere of the opera version of that play, with music written by Butler Music Professor Richard Auldon Clark.

-The Center for Urban Ecology (CUE) was awarded a three-year, nearly $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the CUE Farm on campus as a hub for undergraduate education and research. The money supports Butler faculty in the development and implementation of four urban agriculture research modules in biology, chemistry, ecology, and environmental science courses and to study the impact of those modules on student learning.

-Assistant Professor of Biology Lindsay Lewellyn was awarded a $410,656 National Institutes of Health grant to study egg development in fruit flies, which ultimately could lead to breakthroughs in the area of human infertility. The money is being used to pay for students to work in the lab over the summer, presenting findings at research conferences, hiring a full-time research technician during the academic year, and supplies.

-Kaveh Akbar MFA ’15 was one of five recipients of the 2016 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships, a $25,800 prize intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry. The fellowships are available to all U.S. poets 21 to 31 years old.

-Delorean J. Menifee was named Director of Admission.

-Butler University and the Center for Urban Ecology were inducted into the Green Lights Hall of Fame. The Green Light Awards—a series of climate solutions compiled by Sustainable Indiana 2016 as part of the Bicentennial—are distributed to organizations and individuals who are at the forefront of promoting sustainability across the state of Indiana.

-For the second consecutive year, Butler University was ranked as the Most Innovative School among Midwestern Regional Universities, according to the 2017 edition of U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges. Butler was also recognized in the categories of Best Undergraduate Teaching and the Best Colleges for Veterans, and appeared on the national shortlist of excellence for First-Year Experience, Internships, Undergraduate Research, and Study Abroad.

-Butler was named one of the 26 healthiest colleges in the country by Greatist.com, a website devoted to healthy living.

-CommonLit Inc., a company run by Michelle (Skinner) Brown ’09, received a federal Department of Education grant to help fund and expand the organization. CommonLit Inc., a completely free, online compilation of literary and teaching resources that was created to try to close the “secondary literacy gap,” will receive $3.9 million over two years.

-Associate Professor of Education Katie Brooks was awarded a $2 million U.S. Department of Education grant to train 80 current or potential teachers to become licensed to teach English Language Learning students. The five-year grant is intended to help alleviate the chronic shortage of English as a New Language (ENL) teachers. The grant will pay for 20 college graduates who have a bachelor’s degree in a licensable area such as biology, math, social studies, world languages, or English to get both a teaching license and an ENL license.

-The Board of Trustees elected Attorney Robert T. Wildman and Life Sciences executive Lynne Zydowsky ’81 to special one-year terms on the Board. Both will be eligible for full three-year terms in June 2017. Wildman is a member of the Business Services Group, the Venture Capital and Private Equity Group, and the Real Estate Group of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP. Zydowsky, President of Zydowsky Consultants, is an experienced executive in the Life Sciences industry who has been involved in the launching and building of many successful companies.

-Longtime Professor of Voice André Aerne died on Sunday, October 16, in Petoskey, Michigan. He was 84. Aerne taught at Butler from 1966–1998 and also was often featured as a soloist in the Romantic Festival programs.

-Butler’s first Mock Mediation team did well at the Brenau Invitational Mediation Tournament in Gainesville, Georgia. Russ Hunter ’17 and Anthony Murdock ’17 both took home “Top Mediator.” Hunter also was awarded “Top Advocate/Client,” as was his teammate Nick Fox ’18.

-Forty-nine members of FFA (Future Farmers of America), who came from as far away as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona, and Washington state to attend the annual FFA convention in Indianapolis, took a tour of the CUE Farm at Butler to see how the University is approaching sustainable, environmentally responsible urban farming.

-The Center for Urban Ecology Farm became the new home of the first fully automated mobile greenhouse, an 8-foot-wide by 32-foot-long structure designed and built by Ball State University architecture students to enable the CUE Farm to start plants earlier in the season. The $50,000 project was built with a grant from the Butler Innovation Fund.

-Erin Vincent was hired as Director of Academic Program Development and Innovation, a new position designed to help faculty, staff, and administrators move new academic programs from an idea to program launch.

NOVEMBER

-Brandie Oliver, Assistant Professor of School Counseling in the College of Education, was named Indiana School Counselor Association Counselor Educator of the Year.

-The Center for Citizenship and Community celebrated its 20th anniversary of connecting Butler students and the University with the community.

-A team of five Butler University students won the Purdue University Parrish Library Case Competition, an annual contest that challenges students to use their business research skills to solve a problem for a company. Sammie Chalmers, Taylor Gillenwater, Nicole Henrich, Karly Krebs, and Allison Wolff beat more than 20 teams from Indiana University and Purdue University.

-Eight Lacy School of Business students took the annual Wall Street Trek trip to get a good look at Wall Street—JPMorgan Chase, the Stock Exchange, Blue Mountain Capital—and Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

-Junior Jacob Reeves won the 2016–2017 Hendricks Fellowship for his project studying how wildlife use Butler University’s campus as their home. The Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement (CHASE) awards the scholarship to a student who completes a scientific research project in the area of conservation or Indiana ecosystems.

-Jacklyn Gries, a second-year Pharmacy major from Evansville, Indiana, was selected as Butler’s 2016 winner of the Independent Colleges of Indiana’s Realizing the Dream scholarship. This scholarship goes to students who are first in their families to go to college, have been selected by their colleges for outstanding achievement in their first year, and are successfully advancing towards completing their bachelor’s degrees.

-Butler became the first Indiana school to be invited to present at a Teach to Lead Preparation Summit held in Washington, DC, by the federal Department of Education.

DECEMBER

-Patricia Cochran, the great-great-granddaughter of Butler University founder Ovid Butler and great-niece of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Booth Tarkington, died on December 5. She was 97.

-Sigma Gamma Rho, the sorority founded at Butler University on November 12, 1922, gave Butler a gift to establish the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. 7 Founders Endowed Scholarship to honor the seven education majors and public school teachers who started the organization. The scholarship will be awarded annually beginning in the fall to a student enrolled in the College of Education.

-The curtain rose on the new Theatre Department Scene Shop, which moved from cramped quarters in the basement of the Holcomb Building to much larger, well-ventilated space in the west side of the Sunset Avenue Parking Garage. Half the space will be used to build scenery for Theatre productions; the other half will be used for costume storage for the Theatre and Dance departments.

-Victoria Kreyden ’17, a Biology/Spanish double-major from Carmel, Indiana, won first place in the undergraduate poster session at the 2016 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) meeting in San Francisco, California, for her poster presentation Investigation of the neuronal functions of the SUMO conjugating enzyme UBC-9 at the C. elegans neuromuscular junction. Kreyden’s presentation was judged best of more than 100 by undergraduates from around the country and abroad.

-Retired Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard spoke at 2016 Winter Commencement, telling the 138 graduates that they should clutch their diploma with a sense of optimism because they are in America and they are educated. “The value of an education earned in 2016 at universities like Butler is more tangible than ever,” he said. “Your decision and your family’s decision to persevere in education is the best possible launching pad for a successful career and a successful life.”

-Veteran police officer John Conley succeeded Ben Hunter as Butler University’s Chief of Public Safety. Conley joined the Butler University Police Department in 2014, after working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) for 40 years.

-Associate Professor Kelli Esteves, who has taught in the College of Education since 2010, was named the Richard W. Guyer Chair in Education.

JANUARY

-Responding to a note on Facebook, Tracy Tyndall Pabst ’98 donated a kidney to Laura Coker Blandford ’97. The two were Delta Gamma sorority sisters but not close friends.

-A three-judge panel from the Indiana Court of Appeals heard a case on the Butler campus as part of its Appeals on Wheels program that brings the court to different locations to show the public what it does.

-Thirteen Indiana public school superintendents from all over the state began to participate in the first EPIC (Educators Preparing Inspired Change), a joint venture of Butler University and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents to help great educators transform the business and constituent-services aspects of their work.

-Singer Ben Davis, who spent a couple of years as a Butler student, returned to the Clowes Memorial Hall stage for the first time in 20 years, this time as Captain Georg von Trapp in the national touring company of The Sound of Music.

-Jason Davidson ’01, an instructor in the Lacy School of Business, wrote a book on Visual Basic for Applications, the popular programming language that is used to create and customize Microsoft Office programs. VBA for Microsoft Office 2016, published by Pearson, is a 216-page, step-by-step guide that’s geared toward students.

-Professor of Music David Murray was awarded the International Society of Bassists’s 2017 Special Recognition Award for Solo Performance, which goes to a person “who has contributed special skills, knowledge, projects, and other such positive works in the furthering of ISB ideals.” The award is given every two years by the organization, which represents nearly 3,000 members in more than 40 countries.

-Butler students to make the trip to New York to be part of National Retail Federation’s Big Show, the annual showcase for retail merchants that also lets students see the enormous variety of career options available to them in retail.

-Butler University placed 808 students on the Dean's List for the fall 2016 semester.

-Students and supporters participated in the Polar Plunge, raising over $53,000 for Special Olympics Indiana.

-The second annual Day of Giving shattered expectations, with faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, and friends making 887 gifts totaling more than $137,000. In addition, the University was able to “unlock” more than $103,000 in challenge funding.

-Isaac Warshawsky ’20 was selected as the second recipient of the Bruce and Lucy Gerstein Holocaust Education Travel Fund, which enabled him to visit Poland over spring break.

MARCH

-Beta Theta Pi was selected as the University’s new fraternity, with colonization of the Butler chapter to begin in fall 2017. A location for a future chapter house will be determined, and the University will assist in selecting the site.

-Butler’s men’s basketball team advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2011 with a 74-65 win over Middle Tennessee State.

-Juniors Alex Tison, Claire Cox, and Kaylynn Cline were flown to Chicago to appear on an ESPN quiz show called Bracket Genius.

-Associate Professor of Music Education Daniel Bolin was selected as the 2017 inductee to the Gamma Chapter, Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame. Phi Beta Mu is the highest honorary fraternity for international band directors.

-Twelve 5-foot-by-5-foot brain sculptures, each linked to a different theme in neuroscience, went on display on campus for six weeks as part of One Butler: The Brain Project. The sculptures, commissioned by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, were displayed throughout campus.

-The Center for Urban Ecology Farm began to pursue mushroom cultivation, thanks to an Indy Urban Mushrooms grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

-Butler University sophomore Lauren Ciulla struck gold, earning the Congressional Award Gold Medal, the U.S. Congress’s award for young Americans who set and achieve goals in four program areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration.

APRIL

-The estate of Winstan R. “Bud” Sellick ’47 and his wife, Jacqueline (Blomberg) ’44, has given $9.4 million to the University. The gift will be shared among Butler Athletics, the Lacy School of Business, and general University support.

-Twenty-six Butler University students were elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the honor society that recognizes the best and brightest liberal arts and sciences undergraduates from 286 top schools across the nation.

-Education professors Susan Adams and Brooke Kandel-Cisco were part of a team recognized with a B.E.S.T. Award from WFYI (Channel 20) for its “exemplary work ethic and performance” and its efforts to develop a curriculum guide for the station’s documentary Attucks: The School That Opened A City.

-Four Butler students were named Top Four Paper Winners at the University’s 2017 Undergraduate Research Conference. Kelsey McDougall, John Anderton, Taylor Pearson, and Viki Tomanov’s projects were judged to be the best among the 21 students from five different universities who submitted their completed papers for competitive review.

-Theatre Professor Owen Schaub announced his retirement after 37 years at the University. “Having been at Butler has been a very warm, rewarding, and humane experience,” he said. Other professors who retired this year after long tenures at Butler include Katarina Dulckeit, Richard McGowan, Jeanne Van Tyle, Laurie Pylitt, and Stanley DeRusha.

-Frank E. Ross III, a national leader in student affairs with 22 years of experience and degrees from both Ball State and Indiana universities, was named Vice President for Student Affairs. He will take over the position in June.

-Madison Sauerteig, a junior from Arcadia, Indiana, who has done extensive volunteer work with Riley Hospital for Children, received the 2017 John Weidner Endowed Scholarship for Altruism.

-Junior Caitlyn Foye, a Biology major from Newburgh, Indiana, was named a 2017–2018 Goldwater Scholar, the most prestigious undergraduate award given in the sciences.

MAY

-A $5 million financial contribution from Old National Bank will be used to create the Old National Bank Center for Closely Held Business, which will provide privately owned businesses throughout Indiana with training, education, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help them succeed.

-The Lacy School of Business’ student-run insurance company began operations after the Bermuda Monetary Authority granted licensing approval for the business. The company was created to give students hands-on experience and prepare them for an industry that is anticipated to need tens of thousands of new employees over the next seven years.

-Students, faculty, staff, and alumni signed a steel beam that will be part of the construction of the new 647-bed housing unit that will replace Schwitzer Hall. The first occupants of the new housing will move in in August 2018.

-John Lechleiter, retired CEO of Eli Lilly and Co., told the spring 2017 graduates that they should set their sights high and strive for excellence, treat others the way they would like to be treated, and think and act independently. Butler graduates 955 students on May 6, 2017.

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

The 2016–2017 academic year began with the largest class ever—1,272 students—coming to Butler. It concluded with 955 newly minted graduates, two large gifts to the University, and the groundbreaking for a new housing facility to replace Schwitzer Hall.

Lechleiter to Graduates: Set Your Sights High

BY

PUBLISHED ON May 06 2017

Set your sights high and strive for excellence, treat others the way you would like to be treated, and think and act independently, retired Eli Lilly & Co. CEO John Lechleiter told the Butler University Class of 2017 at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday, May 6.

Lechleiter, who received an honorary doctorate, as did his wife, Sarah, told the 955 graduates, their families, and friends, that as an undergraduate, he had an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry recommend that he go to Harvard for graduate school.

Lechleiter’s reaction: “Are you kidding me?”

But a few weeks into classes in 1975, he said, “I found myself saying, ‘I can do this.’”

“Avoid selling yourself short,” Lechleiter advised, quoting President John F. Kennedy as saying that if you’re willing to settle for second place, that’s where you’ll finish.

He also recommended giving others the benefit of the doubt, avoiding gossip, and reveling in the success of others. And, he said, the graduates should muster the courage to think for themselves.

Lechleiter recalled a time at Lilly when the company was about to lose 40 percent of its revenues from four drugs with expiring patents. He said he received a lot of advice—none of which he took. Instead, despite skepticism, Lilly increased spending on research and development, which “was the right thing to do, and it has since be vindicated.”

“You spent years here at this great university, learning how to think,” Lechleiter said. “Take advantage of that.”

The Class of 2017 included 811 undergraduates and 144 graduate students. Of those, 267 studied abroad at some point in their Butler career.

Theatre Department Chair Diane Timmerman gave the faculty address, in which she advised students to trust their own voice. She told the graduates that:

-Nothing is ever convenient, so don’t sit and wait for perfect circumstances before trying things.

-Say yes to as many things as you can.

-Everyone is scared. Timmerman said she’s been scared at every major moment of her life, but those have often turned out to be the greatest moments of her life.

“Accept fear,” she said. “It will be there. But don’t let it stop you.”

To illustrate her point, she reminded the graduates about the scene in the movie “Hoosiers” in which Gene Hackman walked his awestruck team into Hinkle Fieldhouse for the state championship basketball game and used a tape measure to show the players that the basket and foul line are the same height and length as they are on their home court.

“My wish for you, beautiful Class of 2017,” she said, “is that you find a helpful tape measure whenever you need it.”